Chris Suslowicz

Better than having your tool removed by the moderators, though!:shocked:

I have the exact same pincers, the mitre block and the spirit level from the identical carpentry set! I will be using them again this week to put new sash cords and beading on a friend's kitchen window. In terms of the "oldest" tool, a corkscrew/bottle opener my father brought back from Italy after WW2 (just used on a bottle of Timothy Taylor's "Landlord", with great effect), and some ancient taps & dies (plus a BSP thread cutter in common gas pipe sizes (1/2", 3/4" and 1", I think).)

That is the safe way. :shocking:

Looks as though some of it was live! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-29249537 :wow: Not something you'd want next door to you (or even in the same county). Chris

The mount is further forward that the Vent-Axia, because it's directly over the aerial tuning unit and there was a glass "bowl" insulator between the top of the ATU and the roof. (You don't want to get any body parts close to the feeder with 250 watts of RF on it, I can assure you.) A lot of K9s may have been converted to radio relay roles, with C50/R236 (and C70s) fitted. These would have had the insulators removed (as well as the "coffin") and a Clark 12M pump up mast fitted. Chris.

No, it's a "through the roof" truck mount. I seem to recall there was a metal "V" shaped protector in front of the base to prevent it being damaged by low branches when on the move - but that would be considered part of the radio cabin. You can see the tip of the aerial in this picture, most of the base is obscured by the "coffin" storage box that holds the side tent when not in use. Chris.

Well, it's HF and remarkably substantial. I suspect it's the Larkspur-era replacement for Aerial Base No.16 and the vehicle was originally fitted for a D11 or D13 transmitter and R230 or the later R234 receiver. Chris The Aerial Base No.16 was a mashup of Aerial Base No.3 and a Insulator W/T "H", used with the WS19HP up to the WS53. Base No.3 took the 34-ft steel mast sections, and the Insulator W/T was a big ceramic mushroom type. Because of the voltages involved, the No.3 base was fitted to a metal disk on top of the ceramic insulator and the rubber part was bypassed by four copper braid straps - otherwise it was likely to catch fire.

I think it's more likely to be a proof shot, since it has a driving band on it. (The projectile for a proof round doesn't need to be aerodynamic, so tends to be cylindrical.) I doubt very much that you'd be able to "drop it down the barrel" and get it out again without a great deal of effort - probably involving a very long hydraulic jack or a suitable baulk of timber and a sledgehammer. Chris.

Um, that is the cable size. :-D I'd need to dig around in "Notes on Electricity as applied to Service Apparatus" for the detailed spec., but it's the stuff used for aerial feeders and battery cables. (There's also Cable, Electric, P13, which is a higher current version.) PTS Norfolk (eBay id gten98) has some for sale as "Multi Stranded Single Conductor Earth wire 088-2657 per 1 metre", see: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Multi-Stranded-Single-Conductor-Earth-wire-088-2657-per-1-metre-/111239765644 The usual termination is a slotted lug, or similar, with the conductor soldered into it. (No, I don't know how they avoid setting the rubber insulation alight, though one approved method seemed to be using a "Red Rose" welding and hardfacing unit to heat the lug up!) Of course, if you're just twisting the wire around the terminal and screwing the wing nut down, you'll get a poor contact compared to using the slotted lug with its much greater contact area. That might be the cause. The rather thin wire shown in the other thread is for a 30 volt version of the charging set - if you've got the 15 volt variety, the wire needs to be considerably thicker to avoid too much voltage drop. Chris.

Ah yes, that would do it. I assumed you were using the standard "Cable, Electric, P11" which is rather chunky stuff. Chris.

Since it's working OK on cord start (and presumably charging batteries OK when running), it's likely to be grubby contacts on the start button or a broken connection to the starter winding. I'd start by checking continuity from the moving contact on the start button to the positive battery terminal, then from the fixed contact to the negative battery terminal (to check the starter winding continuity). Then clean the starter button contacts and give it another try. Chris.

The military, of course. Radio spectrum doesn't go away when the equipment becomes obsolete and is sold off as surplus/scrap. It's a finite resource and remains allocated to the original "owner", who has new, shiny, equipment to use on the same frequency bands. Chris.

Tedious legal warning: They don't cover any of the UK amateur bands, nor any of the "licence exempt" frequencies, and it is an offence to use them in the UK (and probably elsewhere, too). They're also extremely difficult to convert (due to the design) to any legally usable frequency.

From the WS19 group: Flight delayed…. # 2 engine flooded…pulling plugs to dry her out… New carburetor apparently is a bit cranky….don’t want to be between Iceland and the UK with engine trouble… (sorry this isn’t exactly directly radio related) Big news over here though... VE3DS > Call sign is CGVRA > Its not in the air yet but tracking on Virtual Radar, with my SDR. > Take off was delayed slightly…should be airborne around 1530 - 1545 UT

Heh. My father was wireless operator/gunner in one for a while during the Italian campaign (3rd Carpathian Rifle Division). Unfortunately he's no longer with us. I suspect the Osprey author only knew about the RAF ones intended for airfield defence. Chris.

Staff as opposed to a particular unit? Chris.

Um, that's a Major (single crown) slide, isn't it? (SSgt is crown over three stripes.) It would also probably explain the lack of other badges on the smock. Chris.

Since I travel to the show by train, the new site is a vast improvement from a travel point of view, since there's no longer any need for a shuttle bus, nor (since the site is on the up-line side) the problem of humping heavy radio kit over the Paddock Wood footbridge. (Bad for the piggybank though: I now can buy heavier radio kit!):cry: Chris.

It's a great pity that Villain Supply has shut down, they could probably have provided everything needed for the clubhouse - though I'd advise against including the Active Volcano or Nuclear Self-Destruct options when ordering.

On the subject of K9 bits... Has anyone got a spare cable porthole (the small circular hatch for running aerial cables through, etc.) for the radio body? (A friend forgot to close one and it got removed by a stray tree branch, I think.) Chris.

Where to start? :-D A bundle of 3'6" flagstaffs for semaphore flags (I have the white with blue stripe flags). Power supply to set cables for C11/R210 and C13 Protective grille for my R109 - only need the canvas cover now. A big box of 19 set innards (mostly transformers stripped out by some vandal) surprisingly, most of them are OK! Mine Detector 6A that I noticed last year then couldn't find the seller again.:red: A rather early Class D wavemeter. Clansman AF amplifier box. The shoulder straps for my Carrier, Battery, No.7T (takes the 12V 22AH for WS62) that I have been after for years. Lots of other stuff, nothing large or especially heavy this year, thank goodness. :-D Chris.

We don't need no steenking badgers! :-D

Go for it! Telephones (UK ones, anyway) I can probably identify. Chris. (Had a good, but fairly expensive, day at Beltring-on-Sea today. Piggy Bank not happy.)

The broad arrow is the "Government Property" mark, and that applied to GPO kit as well (I have cable jointing tools with the broad arrow and GPO 1949 stamped on them). That said, it's an interesting piece, and I might be tempted at some point (though I don't see myself ever needing to erect overhead telephone lines). :-D Other line kit would also be of interest. Chris. (Beltring-on-Sea tomorrow, must get an early night. Zzzzzzzzzz....)

It's a lineman's tool for use with telephone/telegraph lines. Quite possibly Post Office rather than military, because the "draw tongs" used for air line usually have a ratchet and spring scale for setting the tension correctly (it's quite large and varies according to the air temperature when you erect the line). For 70lb (weight per mile length) cadmium-copper, the tension is 90lb at 0F, 75lb at 20F, 55lb at 60F, 35lb at 100F and 30lb at 120F though I would not like to be laying air lines at either temperature extreme! The triangle is probably for attaching to the lineman's safety belt so he can lean backwards to keep the cable clear of the ground during the initial laying (i.e: before it gets properly tensioned and fixed to the pole insulators). Chris. (I collect this kind of stuff.):red: